NHRC seeks report from Jharkhand govt on deaths of 52 infants in 30 days

Media reports highlighted that 52 infants died within a month at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College Hospital in Jamshedpur.

ranchiUpdated: Aug 28, 2017 18:39 IST

HT Correspondent Hindustan Times, Ranchi

The superintendent of the hospital has denied negligence by doctors or administration.(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The National Human Rights Commission has issued notice to the Jharkhand government on the reported deaths of 52 infants in 30 days at Jamshedpur’s Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College, an official statement said on Monday.

Taking suo moto cognizance of media reports highlighting the death of the children in less than a month, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued a notice to Jharkhand chief secretary Rajbala Verma and sought a report on the deaths within six weeks.

“The commission has observed that painful deaths of children and infants, in a large number, are a matter of concern,” the communique said.

Hindustan Times had earlier reported that altogether 64 children up to 12 years of age lost lives during treatment at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College Hospital (MGMMCH) in last one month. But the hospital administration had put the figure at 31 deaths. At least 16 of the deceased, they said, were infants who died at the newborn intensive care unit (NICU) in July.

Alarmed by the whopping figure of casualties in Jharkhand, a three-member team from the state health department had inspected the hospital on Friday last week. However, no report related to the deaths was released.

The NHRC has also asked the Union health and family welfare ministry to take immediate action by way of issuance of suitable directions to all the states and union territories so that such tragic deaths do not occur in any hospital in the country.

The NHRC had recently taken cognizance of two similar incidents. One occurred in the Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh, where more than 60 children and infants died at BRD Medical College and another was reported from Chhattisgarh, where four infants died due to negligence by the oxygen plant operator at Ambedkar Hospital.